The role of sex-specific normative beliefs in undergraduate alcohol use

Objectives: To create explanatory models of 3 undergraduate drinking practices based on sex-specific norms. Methods: An electronic, student survey at one Midwestern university produced a representative sample of college students. Results: Multivariate analyses indicated that close- friend norms were the best predictors of drinking frequency, quantity, and drunkenness. With one exception, typical student (or distal) norms had no significant relationship to drinking. Opposite-sex norms had associations with drinking above and beyond that explained by same-sex norms. Conclusions: The findings challenge the current application of the popular social norms approach that relies on distal drinking norms to provide normative feedback.